The fusion of two nuclei with lower masses than iron-56 (which, along with nickel-62, has the largest binding energy per nucleon) generally releases energy, while the fusion of nuclei heavier than iron absorbs energy. The opposite is true for the reverse process, nuclear fission. This means that generally only lighter elements are fusable, such as Hydrogen and Helium, and likewise, that generally only heavier elements are fissionable, such as Uranium and Plutonium. There are extreme astrophysical events that can lead to short periods of fusion with heavier nuclei. This is the process that gives rise to nucleosynthesis, the creation of the heavy elements during events such as a supernova.

The fusion of two nuclei with lower masses than iron-56 (which, along with nickel-62, has the largest binding energy per nucleon) generally releases energy, while the fusion of nuclei heavier than iron absorbs energy. The opposite is true for the reverse process, nuclear fission. This means that generally only lighter elements are fusable, such as Hydrogen and Helium, and likewise, that generally only heavier elements are fissionable, such as Uranium and Plutonium. There are extreme astrophysical events that can lead to short periods of fusion with heavier nuclei. This is the process that gives rise to nucleosynthesis, the creation of the heavy elements during events such as a supernova.

Latest News for: fusion reaction energy

(NaturalNews) Is it really possible to capture the energy released during nuclear fusionreactions and turn it into an unlimited power supply for the entire world? A startup energy company based out of Washington state says it is, having recently put forth claims that it successfully discovered the “holy grail” of nuclear fusion. AGNI... ....

energy (according to GeneralFusion, we have enough lithium for 23,000 years of fusionenergy) ... In the past, no one has been able to create a controlled fusionreaction that creates more energy than was used to start it ... heart pumping–but we’ll have to wait four years to see if General Fusion can actually save us from our energy woes....

Magnetic islands, bubble-like structures that form in fusion plasmas, can grow and disrupt the plasmas and damage the doughnut-shaped tokamak facilities that house fusionreactions...Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) has used large-scale computer simulations to produce a new model that could be key to ......

Tokamak called the process a "significant milestone" in its plan to have cracked the production of energy from nuclear fusion – the reaction which powers stars – by 2025 ... “We are taking significant steps towards achieving fusionenergy, doing so with the agility of a private venture, driven by the goal of achieving something that will have huge benefits worldwide," said Tokamak's chief executive Jonathan Carling....

(Hans Bethe Prize, 2006) in the same year independently arrived at the same theory in his paper “NuclearReactions in Stars and Nucleogenesis.” ... What prevents this collapse is nuclear fusionreactions happening at the star’s center ... In such hot conditions, now when nuclei run into each other they have enough energy to merge together. This is what physicists call a nuclear fusionreaction. These nuclear reactions serve two purposes....

“The nuclear fusion-reaction process is hotter than the center of the sun — so hot it will melt any power plant that would attempt to contain it. The solution is to use powerful magnets to ‘create a field to hold the fusionreaction in place without it touching anything solid.’ But until recently, it took more energy to power the magnets than was produced by the fusion-reaction process.”....

"The nuclear fusion-reaction process is hotter than the center of the sun — so hot it will melt any power plant that would attempt to contain it. The solution is to use powerful magnets to 'create a field to hold the fusionreaction in place without it touching anything solid.' But until recently, it took more energy to power the magnets than was produced by the fusion-reaction process."...

"The nuclear fusion-reaction process is hotter than the center of the sun — so hot it will melt any power plant that would attempt to contain it. The solution is to use powerful magnets to 'create a field to hold the fusionreaction in place without it touching anything solid.' But until recently, it took more energy to power the magnets than was produced by the fusion-reaction process."....

The German machine, the world's largest and most advanced stellarator, is being used to explore the scientific basis for fusionenergy and test the suitability of the stellarator design for future fusion power plants. Such plants would use fusionreactions such as those that power the sun to create an unlimited energy source on Earth....

It is the call to rein in spending for fusionenergy research ... My experience of more than a dozen years in a government lab and in academia, working on both laser and magnetic fusionenergy research, convinces me that this change is long overdue ... and the Soviet Union invested in programs to explore the possibility of exploiting nuclear fusionreactions for civilian energy production....

Coldfusion — or its successor technologies such as Low EnergyNuclearReaction (LENR) — remains a dead-end and a false hope for many scientists across the world ... Cold fusion seeks to produce nuclear energy without harmful radiation, complex equipment and the application of very high temperatures and pressures ... There is no guarantee that every time a cold fusion or LENR experiment is done, energy will be produced, say critics....

A UK company is hoping to take a step towards generating low-cost, sustainable energy from fusion, with the installation of a pulsed power machine designed to trigger the reaction... However, despite decades of experiments around the world, no organisation has yet been able to produce a self-sustaining fusionreaction capable of generating more energy than it consumes....

A key challenge in fusion research is ...Department of Energy's (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), have recently found that drifting particles in the plasma, which consists of free electrons and atomic nuclei, can forestall instabilities that reduce the pressure crucial to high-performance fusionreactions inside these facilities....